TOWNSVILLE CIT Y COUNCIL

ANNUAL CUSTOMER SURVEYOur annual independent customer survey provides valuable feedback that we use to improve our service delivery. Our most recent survey conducted in October 2014 contacted 172 of our customers. This represents a larger sample size than the year before, and a broadening of the suite of questions asked, particularly those focused on our performance against our Service Excellence Charter.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

Figure 1. Customer Satisfaction Results

For ‘Strategic Planning’ you told us that continued consultation between the development industry and Planning & Development was a key priority. As a result, we are strengthening industry consultation through the formation of a refreshed Industry Reference Group to ensure you are provided with an opportunity to provide input on key council projects and initiatives, (this group has already held two meetings).

We also recognise the importance of improving the alignment between Strategic Planning and Development Assessment including the involvement of Strategic Planning Officers in pre-lodgement meetings and ensuring Strategic Planning participation within Development Assessment teams.

We also understand that you want a more targeted strategic approach to Economic Development, so we met with relevant stakeholders to workshop this issue in December 2014 and we have subsequently developed the Invest Townsville Strategy. Invest Townsville will be an ongoing program of works that actively attracts investment to the city. As this strategy and its actions are progressively rolled out over the course of this year we will keep you appropriately engaged should you wish to be involved.

In keeping with our commitment to regularly communicate the status of our performance against our Service Excellence Charter, I’m pleased to present our results for the period of July 2014 to March 2015. This round we have also incorporated feedback received from our annual Customer Survey conducted in October 2014.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE NEWSLETTER

TOWNSVILLE CIT Y COUNCIL

DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT

Figure2. Customer Satisfaction Results

For ‘Development Assessment’ you clearly indicated to us that the delivery and timeliness of Bank Guarantees, Operational Works applications and Compliance Assessment needed improvement. We have as a consequence spent significant time refining the processes by which these services are delivered. I am pleased to be able to represent that our performance against the Service Excellence KPI’s for Bank Guarantees, Operational Works, and Compliance Assessment are all now being met.

It is also worthy to note that we are rapidly approaching the finalisation of our Plan Right Operational Works pilot project (known as Des-Con), which is another strategy council has deployed to address your concerns about the timeliness of Operational Works approvals. This pilot project has progressed well and is due for completion in the short term. Several organisations have registered an interest in gaining accreditation in Des-Con upon the completion of the pilot. Further information will be provided to the development industry about this opportunity at the resolution of this project.

We also understand that we have been inconsistently meeting our target of contacting you within four business days of lodging your development applications. Whilst we have improved our monitoring of this KPI, and some of you would have been contacted to confirm whether this has been occurring, we are placing a greater focus on ensuring this KPI is met by refreshing our process of acknowledging new applications by phone and in electronic format.

Lastly, another clear theme that emerged through the survey was a need to improve our online presence and associated electronic systems so that they are simple and user friendly. We are committed to improving our online presence and to providing faster access to council data. The process for viewing building and planning files will soon become easier with documents available online rather than requiring a visit to council. Larger scale technological enhancements to enable lodgement and online payment are areas of focus for our ICT strategy; however, given the scale of these projects 12 months will be required for their delivery.

HOW HAVE WE MEASURED UP AGAINST OUR SERVICE EXCELLENCE CHARTER?Since our last update we have continued to focus on our performance against our Service Excellence Charter, and I’m pleased to note that we are now meeting all of our identified targets. It’s important to acknowledge that there will be instances where we don’t meet an identified KPI. However, we will continue to monitor and develop strategies to address any inconsistencies in service delivery in an effort to continue to meet your expectations.

The value of the Service Excellence Charter, your feedback and this report is best demonstrated by our performance against the Bank Guarantee and Compliance Assessment KPI’s of the Charter. Your feedback is what we have used to develop strategies to address our performance, which has subsequently seen an improvement against these KPI’s.

Notably and finally, in our recent survey 82% of you supported the continued use of the Service Excellence Charter. We are always keen to obtain your feedback on our service delivery and invite you to utilise the feedback portal on our website or to contact us directly with any suggestions you may have.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE NEWSLETTER

TOWNSVILLE CIT Y COUNCIL

SERVICE EXCELLENCE NEWSLETTER

Stewart PentlandDirector | Planning and Development

For further information:Planning and Development | Townsville City Council

1300 878 001

www.townsville.qld.gov.au